2 YEARS SINCE COFFEE WITH LOLA
"You drink too much." Mulligan said when she failed to squat 325.
"You're too grumpy." They were on hour three and she was tired, so tired.
"Alright. I'm going to Murph's , you dry out huh?" He smacked her back, Olivia peered around the gym, still unchanged. Benny was watching her from the shoulder press.
"What?" She wiped the sweat off her forehead.
"He's got a point." He shrugged. Explosively she threw her belt at him and stomped upstairs. Sure she drank a little bit, not enough to effect business or anyone else. She sank into a hot bath, business, Benny, PureSide, Crawford, training, Benny, business, Crawford, PureSide, Benny...
They had perfected their juggling act for now. Less frequent, but longer trysts, the PureSide events were mini-vacations in secret. He and Lola had had another baby, a little girl. Olivia's IUD had come out of place and she had gotten pregnant, not sure by who, but she'd aborted the baby and only told Crawford, before hand this time, repeats in a lost history.
She was tired. Draining the wine glass in her hand, Olivia dropped it onto the soft rug on the floor and Benny came in, green eyes worried, not angry. "Babe-"
"I don't want to talk." She said.
"Okay." He kneeled by the cracked tub and kissed her forehead.
"I'm worried about you, you're working a lot, maybe time to shelf this PureSide thing." He rubbed her kneecap bobbing above the water, she sat up and hugged her knees, "No." No PureSide meant no Crawford for sure.
"For a while, you're stretched too thin Livvy."
"No." She stood and grabbed a towel, dripping all over the floor, "That's a lot of money a month." He grabbed her hand and pulled her against him.
"Why are you so angry? I'm the angry one."
Because I love two men, I fuck two men, I'm a first rate liar. Out of nowhere tears burst out and she leaned into Benny and cried, cried until no more tears or sound would come out of her.
"You're too good to me, you always have been." She pushed away from him and wiped her face, then dressed quickly, he changed too, she had soaked his clothes.
"We are good for each other Livvy." She watched him watch her dress.
"Let's go out, catch a movie, relax." He smiled at her.
"Thanks, but no. Too much to do, I'm meeting Andrew and Brucey for a late dinner meeting." She laced up her converse and went to the kitchen for more wine, he followed her.
"Thought you had a meeting later." He eyed the bottle. He was judging her—let him— she didn't have a meeting later, she was meeting Crawford at his studio downtown, he was only in Boston for the one night, then him and the family were going to New York.
"Brucey has some papers for me to sign and Andrew got a phone call from Women's Health about an all vegan issue or something." That part was true, he came around the now smooth countertop they'd redone and kissed her temple.
"I love you."
"I love you."
She spent the afternoon writing a release on her retirement from Powerlifting and fighting, her heart wasn't in it anymore. She wanted to help PureSide grow and spread the vegan word. At eight she went downstairs, saying hi and bye to Kiki, Benny was out front with Kevin. "Bye." She kissed his nose.
YOU ARE READING
I choose me.
General Fiction"I choose me" follows the story of Olivia Granger , her life from an orphan, to an athlete and business owner, to a woman whose life turns in a direction she never ever thought it would go, a direction she never even knew could exist. It is a hear...
